Biography and Autobiography
Rare Biography & Autobiography Books for Sale Online
If you are looking for rare or first edition biography or autobiography books look no further than Raptis Rare Books. Browse through our entire collection of rare biographies and autobiographies below, view details about individual books and contact us to ask a question or find out more information.
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Col. I Winslow Ayer's The Great Treason Plot in the North During the War
AYER, I. Winslow.
The Great Treason Plot in the North During the War. Most Dangerous, Perfidious, Extensive and Startling Plot Ever Devised! Imminent Hidden Perils of the Republic. Astounding Developments Never Before Published.
Chicago: U.S. Publishing Co, n.d..
Early printing of Ayer's Civil War account. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In good condition.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 132537
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Limited de Luxe Edition of Patrick Hasting's Famous and Infamous Cases
HASTINGS, Patrick.
Famous and Infamous Cases.
London: The Collector's Book Club, n.d..
Limited de Luxe Edition of Hastings' popular work. Octavo, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt decorations to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, ribbon bound in, illustrated. One of one hundred numbered copies available to members of The Collector's Book Club only, this is number 70. In very good condition.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 136077
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First Edition of Richard Church's British Authors: A Twentieth Century Gallery
CHURCH, Richard.
British Authors: A Twentieth Century Gallery.
London: Published for the British Council by Longmans Green & Co.
First edition of Church's authoritative guide to the greatest British authors. Octavo, original wrappers, illustrated with 58 portraits. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Small name.
Price: $25.00 Item Number: 126107
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"Mary Wollstonecraft started the demand of women for political liberty in England, Condorcet in France, and the heroic group of anti-slavery agitators in the United States": First edition of Millicent Garrett Fawcett's Women's Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement
GARRETT FAWCETT, Millicent.
Women’s Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement.
London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, [1912].
First edition of Millicent Garrett Fawcett's history of the women's suffrage movement. Octavo, original cloth, publisher's advertisements at rear. English politician, writer and feminist Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett led Britain's largest women's rights association, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) from 1897 to 1919. In 2018, a century after the Representation of the People Act, she was the first woman honored with a statue in Parliament Square. In very good condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 134219
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"My sympathies are with the suffragettes": Rare English parlor game book containing numerous early 20th century signatures
[MACKENZIE, Poppy].
The Truth About My Friends.
London: Dow & Lester, n.d.
Small parlor game book belonging to Poppy Mackenzie, each page with tipped-in printed slip lifting to reveal a self-criticism or "truth" (one of them being "My sympathies are with the suffragettes"), below which the participants have signed their name. In good condition.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 135645
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Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets
DODGE, W.C.; Andrew Johnson; Henry J. Raymond; et al.
Civil War Political Pamphlet Collection.
Various publishers, c. 1861-1865.
Extensive collection of over fifty first edition Civil War era pamphlets on topics including politics, battles, foreign relations, debt, and the draft. Octavo, 52 volumes, original wrappers. The collection includes first editions of: Memorial to the Hon. Secretary of War, or, How to Strengthen our Army and Crush the Rebellion, with a Saving of Life and Treasure [Dodge, W.C. Washington DC: McGill & Witherow, 1864. From the collection of James W. Grimes (1816-1872), Governor of Iowa and United States Senator from Iowa with his ownership inscription]; Correspondence between John H. Gilmer and Honorable Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury [Richmond:…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 135127
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Rare Civil War Pocket Diary Kept by Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment
[DAVIS, Robert P.] .
Pocket Diary of Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment.
[1863].
The Civil War pocket diary of Assistant Surgeon Robert P. Davis, 84th Indiana Regiment. 16mo, original wrappers, the diary is printed with blank three days per page, entries have been recorded intermittently beginning on January 1, 1863 and include brief accounts of skirmishes at Resaca, Hooker's rescue of the Indiana Regiment and reports of duties and the diarist's own illness: May 27: “I am on duty at the Hospital handing instruments for amputation.” The next day: “At same duty as yesterday.” June 1: the sick and wounded are moved to a more permanent hospital and their field tents are moved…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 132395
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Rare illustrated edition of The Pilgrim's Progress, The Holy War, and Other Selected Works of John Bunyan; finely bound in full morocco
BUNYAN, John.
The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Holy War, and Other Selected Works of John Bunyan. The Life of the Author written by himself. With Interesting Historical Facts Affecting Religion at the Period in which He Wrote Explanatory Notes and Illustrative Passages From Modern Divines. Arranged by the Editors of Sturm’s Devotions.
London and New York: The London Printing and Publishing Company, n.d..
The illustrated edition of the selected works of John Bunyan. Quarto, elaborately bound in full morocco with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt ruling and stamping to the front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, illustrated with engravings, frontispiece, and engraved title page.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 122608
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Rare December 29, 1975 Time Magazine Cover featuring a portrait of Mother Teresa; inscribed by her
BOJAXHIU, Mary Teresa. [Mother Teresa].
Mother Teresa Signed Time Magazine Cover.
New York: Time, December 29, 1975.
Rare cover from the December 29, 1975 issue of Time Magazine featuring a portrait of Mother Teresa by Bob Peak and inscribed by her, "God bless you M Teresa MC." In near fine condition. Double matted and framed with the original transmittal envelope inserted into a pocket on the verso of the frame showing the printed Missionaries of Charity return address and postmarked Bronx, 3 April 1986. The entire piece measures 17 inches by 14 inches.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 133441
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"This book is offered to those women on the fighting line who have had the courage to face ridicule, and the wit to turn the laugh upon their enemies by their indifference to derision": Rare first edition of Constance Smedley's Woman: A Few Shrieks!
X. [SMEDLEY, Constance]; Appendix by Mrs. Philip Snowden [Ethel Snowden].
Woman: A Few Shrieks!
Letchworth Herts: Garden City Press , [1907].
First edition of Constance Smedley's rare feminist tract, published under the pseudonym X and with an appendix by Ethel Snowden. Octavo, original cloth, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers. Appendix by Ethel Snowden. In good condition. Stamps throughout including to the front and rear panels and top edge. Bookplates to the pastedown.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 134985
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John Brown's John Bunyan: His Life, Times and Work; signed and inscribed by John Brown, President Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Stewardt, Charles A. Salmond, James Stark and many other turn of the 20th century American, English, and Scottish educators and ministers
BROWN, John. [Woodrow Wilson; Charles A. Salmond; Alexander Stewart; James Stark; et al].
John Bunyan: His Life, Times and Work.
London: Wm. Ibister Limited, n.d..
Early edition of Reverend John Brown's important biography of his predecessor and the author of Pilgrim's Progress, English Puritan preacher John Bunyan. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "With all fraternal regards John Brown Bedford, England, August 10th 1899" and signed by his wife, "Ada H. Brown." Additionally signed by Robert Christie, "Robert Christie Presbyterian Seminary Allegheny, Pa"; Woodrow Wilson, "Woodrow Wilson, Princeton, New Jersey"; Alexander Stewart "Alexander Stewart D.D. St. Mary's College- St. Andrews- Scotland-"; Charles A. Salmond, "Charles A. Salmond. South Morningside Free Church, Edinburgh-"; James Stark, "James Stark Aberdeen"; and…
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 121964
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First edition of William Dennison Bickham's Rosecrans' Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps
BICKHAM, William Dennison.
Rosecrans’ Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps, of the Army of the Cumberland: A Narrative of Personal Observations, with a Appendix, Consisting of Official Reports of the Battle of Stone River.
Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co, Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co..
First edition of William Dennison Bickham's Civil War memoir. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In good condition. Ex-library.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 132443
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Lord Balfour's Speech In The House of Commons on Women's Suffrage
BALFOUR, Arthur James.
Speech In The House of Commons on Women’s Suffrage.
London: Published by The Central Society For Women's Suffrage, [c.1892].
Rare printing of Lord Balfour's speech supporting the Women's Franchise Bill, which proposed extending the parliamentary vote to women. Octavo, original wrappers. In near fine condition.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 135551
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Rare first edition of Mary Phillips' The Militant Suffrage Campaign in Perspective
PHILLIPS, Mary.
The Militant Suffrage Campaign in Perspective.
London: Latimer Trend & Co, [1957].
Rare first edition of Mary Phillips' personal account of the militant suffragette movement. Octavo, original wrappers. Foreword by the Right Hon. Lord Pethick-Lawrence. Mary Elizabeth Phillips joined the radical Women's Social & Political Union in 1907 and established a Glasgow branch of the WSPU. In March 1908 she was sentenced to six weeks in Holloway Prison following a demonstration outside the House of Commons. She remains the longest prison serving suffragette. In near fine condition.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 135293
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First edition of Frederick W. Pethick Lawrence's Women's Fight For The Vote
PETHICK LAWRENCE, Frederick W.
Women’s Fight For The Vote.
London: The Woman's Press, [1910].
First edition of the definitive collection Pethick Lawrence's articles promoting Women's Suffrage. Octavo, original wrappers. In good condition. Rare.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 135198
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"Who dost though love O seer in thy vision? Women I love, slender and strange and stately waiting untroubled for the years to bear them": First Edition of Sir George Macmunn's Kipling's Women
MACMUNN, Sir George [Rudyard Kipling].
Kipling’s Women.
London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., n.d..
First edition of the former President of the Kipling Society's study of the women portrayed in Kipling's song and story. Octavo, original publisher's cloth with gilt titles and central gilt emblem to the front panel. Very good in the rare original dust jacket which is in good condition.
Price: $30.00 Item Number: 135257
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First Edition of Orville J. Victor's The History, Civil, Political & Military of the Southern Rebellion
VICTOR, Orville J.
The History, Civil, Political & Military of the Southern Rebellion, From its Incipient Stages to its Close.
New York: James D. Torrey, Publisher, [1861].
Complete first edition set of one of the earliest histories of the American Civil War. Octavo, four volumes, original publisher's full pebbled morocco decorated in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated with steel engraved plates, additional vignette title pages. frontispieces, and maps. In good condition. A rare complete set, we have never seen another one.
Price: $2,800.00 Item Number: 133063
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Margaret Dilke's Women's Suffrage
DILKE, Margaret.
Women’s Suffrage.
London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., n.d..
Stereotyped edition of English suffragette Margaret Dilke's treatise on women's suffrage. Octavo, bound in full cloth, original wrappers bound in. In good condition. Stamps.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 135204
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"Every history that has been written since has derived all its light from this, and followed its guidance in every question of importance": Rare first edition, first issue of Francis Bacon's The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh
BACON, Sir Francis.
The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh.
London: Printed by Stansby for Matthew Lownes and William Barret, 1622.
Scarce first edition, first issue of Sir Francis Bacon's influential history of the reign of King Henry VII with "Highnesse" at the conclusion of the dedication and “souldiers” (3, line 12) (Pforzheimer 32; STC 1159). Quarto, bound in three quarters calf over marbled boards with tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, all edges red, woodcut frontispiece portrait of Henry VII, elaborate architectural borders to the title page, woodcut headpieces and initials. From the library of book collector Frederick Spiegelberg with his bookplate to the pastedown. In near fine condition,…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 114526
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Early English translation of Frederick II, King of Prussia's history of the Brandenburg Dynasty
FREDERICK II, King of Prussia.
Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg.
London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1748.
Early English translation of Frederick II, King of Prussia's history of the Brandenburg Dynasty. Dedicated to his Royal Highness to Prince of Wales. Authors Preface. Initially published in three installments by Frederick II's private press at the palace of Sanssouci near Berlin, the volumes were read as part of the curriculum at the Prussian Academy of Sciences and considered as the fourth volume of Frederick's Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sans Souci (The works of the philosopher of Sans Souci). Small octavo, disbound with part of the original gilt spine intact. In very good condition. A nice example.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 92480
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Early example of Frederick II, King of Prussia's history of the Brandenburg Dynasty
FREDERICK II, King of Prussia.
Memoires pour Servir a l’Histoire de la Maison de Brandebourg (Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg).
Berlin: Chez Chretien Frederic Voss, 1767.
Early example of Frederick II, King of Prussia's history of the Brandenburg Dynasty. Initially published in three installments by Frederick II's private press at the palace of Sanssouci near Berlin, the volumes were read as part of the curriculum at the Prussian Academy of Sciences and considered as the fourth volume of Frederick's Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sans Souci (The works of the philosopher of Sans Souci). Quarto, three volumes bound into one, rebacked, contemporary boards, elaborate engraved allegorical frontispiece by Georf Friedrich Schmidt, two folding genealogical tables, two folding maps. In very good condition.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 82415
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Voltaire's Vie de Moliere; finely bound
VOLTAIRE (AROUET, François-Marie).
Vie de Moliere.
Lausanne: Chez Francois Grasset & Comp, 1772.
Early edition of Voltaire's biography of one of the most influential and widely translated writers of all time. Octavo, bound in full sprinkled sheepskin. Gilt titles and tooling to the spine, pictorial endpapers, all edges red, ribbon bound in. In very good condition with some rubbing to the extremities. Tasteful period bookplate.
Price: $350.00 Item Number: 95126
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“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety": Rare First Edition of Benjamin Franklin's Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces
FRANKLIN, Benjamin.
Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces; Arranged under the Following Heads and Distinguished by Initial Letters in each Leaf: General Politics; American Politics before the Troubles; American Politics during the Troubles; Provincial or Colony Politics; Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces.
London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1779.
First edition of "the only edition of Franklin's writings (other than his scientific) printed during his lifetime" (Ford). Octavo, bound half diced calf over marbled boards with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt. With the engraved frontispiece portrait of Franklin, three engraved plates (one folding), and folding table of the reformed alphabet. In near fine condition. Complete with index, addenda and corrigenda. An exceptional example.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 125035
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"the most celebrated biography in the English language": Rare First Edition, First Issue of Boswell's The Life of Johnson
BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Johnson.
London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.
First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in full morocco by Birdsall, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, inner dentelles, all edges gilt. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua Reynolds (1756) painting. Housed in a custom clamshell box. In fine condition. An excellent example of this landmark work.
Price: $16,500.00 Item Number: 120374
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"the most celebrated biography in the English language": Rare First Edition, First Issue of Boswell's The Life of Johnson
BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Johnson.
London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.
First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles to the spine, morocco spine labels. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua Reynolds (1756) painting. In very good condition. An excellent example of this landmark work.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 124524
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"the most celebrated biography in the English language": Rare First Edition of Boswell's The Life of Johnson
BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Johnson.
London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.
First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua Reynolds (1756) painting. Volume one is the first state with the word “give” reading on page 135, line 10. First state of volume two, with two engraved illustrations, “The Round Robin” at p. 92, and the “facsimiles” of Dr. Johnson's handwriting on p. 588. In near fine condition with light toning,…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 80005
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First edition of The Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon; elaborately bound
GIBBON, Edward.
Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esquire. With Memoirs of His Life and Writings, Composed by Himself: Illustrated from His Letters, with Occasional Notes and Narrative by John Lord Sheffield.
London: Printed for A. Strahan, and T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1796.
First edition of Gibbon’s memoirs, letters, and additional works, posthumously collected and published by his closest friend, John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, engraved frontispiece portrait of Gibbon. In near fine condition. A very attractive example of one of the first modern autobiographies published in the English language.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 135133
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First edition of Timothy Dwight's A Discourse, Delivered at New-Haven, Feb. 22, 1800; On the Character of George Washington, Esq. at the Request of the Citizens
DWIGHT, Timothy. [George Washington].
A Discourse, Delivered at New-Haven, Feb. 22, 1800; On the Character of George Washington, Esq. at the Request of the Citizens.
New-Haven: Printed by Thomas Green and Son, 1800.
First edition of the President of Yale College's oration delivered upon the occasion of the death of the first President of the United States. Sabin 21549; Evans 37339. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author Timothy Dwight IV served as the eighth president of Yale College from 1795 to 1817. Dwight was the leader of the evangelical New Divinity faction of Congregationalism—a group closely identified with Connecticut's emerging commercial elite. Although fiercely opposed by religious…
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 133409
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First edition of John Mitchell Mason's Oration, Commemorative of the Late Major-General Alexander Hamilton
MASON, John Mitchell. [Alexander Hamilton].
An Oration, Commemorative of the Late Major-General Alexander Hamilton; The New-York State Society of the Cincinnati, on Tuesday, The 31st July, 1804.
New York: Printed by Hopkins and Seymour, 1804.
First edition of John Mitchell Mason's Eulogy delivered upon the occasion of the death of Alexander Hamilton. Octavo, disbound. In very good condition.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 134537
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FIRST EDITION OF JOHN MARSHALL’S LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, WITH THE SCARCE ATLAS VOLUME
MARSHALL, John. [George Washington].
The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War Which Established the Independence of His Country, and First President of the United States. [WITH] The Life of George Washington: Maps and Subscriber’s Names.
Philadelphia: C.P. Wayne, 1804-1807.
First edition, first issue of the first biography of George Washington with the scarce atlas volume and list of subscribers. Octavo, six volumes, bound in full contemporary tree calf with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Washington to volume I. With the scarce atlas volume which is bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards and contains 10 engraved maps, 9 folding, and the 22-page list of subscribers. In very good condition. A rare and complete set in an attractive contemporary binding.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 131234
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Rare first edition of Marshman's The Works of Confucius; complete with his Dissertation on the Characters and Sounds of the Chinese Language
MARSHMAN, Joshua [Confucius].
The Works of Confucius; Containing the Original Text, With a Translation. To Which is Prefixed a Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character. [The Analects of Confucius].
Serampore: Printed at the Mission Press, 1809.
First English translation of the Analects of Confucius complete with the rare Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character, here bound in a separate volume. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, illustrated with 2 folding charts on Chinese characters, 4 further tables on 2 folding leaves, postscript at rear. In fine condition. Exceptionally rare, particularly with Marshman's separately printed dissertation present including the tables and charts.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 131224
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First edition of William Hazlitt's Political Essays, with Sketches of Public Characters; From the Library of William Safire
HAZLITT, William.
Political Essays, with Sketches of Public Characters.
London: Printed for William Hone, 1819.
First edition of one of Hazlitt's most interesting collections, including his estimates and reviews of Southey as Laureate, of Coleridge, Burke, and Malthus (at length). Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers. From the library of William Safire with his bookplate to the pastedown. William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign for the 1960 Presidential race, and supported him again in 1968. After Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and Spiro Agnew.…
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 127349
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Rare first edition of S. Putnam Waldo's Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Naval Heroes and the War of the Revolution
WALDO, S. Putnam. [James Monroe; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson].
Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Naval Heroes and the War of the Revolution, Between the American Republic and the Kingdom of Great Britain; Comprising Sketches of Com. Nicholas Biddle, Com. John Paul Jones, Com. Edward Preble and Com. Alexander Murray. With Incidental Allusions to other Distinguished Characters.
Hartford: Published by Silas Andrus, 1823.
First edition of Putnam's work dedicated to American naval heroes of the Revolutionary War including James Monroe, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine. In near fine condition. Armorial bookplate to the pastedown. Rare.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 120635
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"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do": RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE COLLECTION OF JEFFERSON’S WRITINGS
JEFFERSON, Thomas.
Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
Charlottesville, VA: F. Carr and Co, 1829.
First edition of the first published collection of Jefferson’s writings, an impressive four-volume work edited by his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Octavo, 4 volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, morocco spine labels, engraved frontispiece portrait after Gilbert Stuart in Volume I. In very good condition with some of the usual foxing endemic to this title. Rare and desirable in contemporary calf.
Price: $4,200.00 Item Number: 117576
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First edition of Frances Trollope's Domestic Manners of the Americans
TROLLOPE, Frances Milton.
Domestic Manners of the Americans.
London: Printed for Whitaker, Treacher, & Co, 1832.
First edition of Frances Trollope's wildy popular and highly controversial work on America and Americans. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with 24 lithographed plates by Ducôtes after drawings by Hervieu. In very good condition. Bookplate.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 131559
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First edition of James Jackson's Cases of Cholera Collected at Paris; in the original publisher's boards
JACKSON, James.
Cases of Cholera Collected at Paris, in the Month of April, 1832, in the Wards of MM. Andral and Louis at the Hospital La Pitie.
Boston: Carter, Hendee, and Co, 1832.
First edition of Jackson's work detailing six cases of Cholera collected at the Hospital de la Pitie at Paris. Octavo, original publisher's boards and paper spine label. In very good condition. Ownership inscription.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 137121
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Edmund Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages; elaborately illustrated and bound in full morocco
LODGE, Edmund.
Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain. Engraved From Authentic Pictures in the Galleries of the Nobility and the Public Collections of the Country. With Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Their Lives and Actions.
London: Printed for Harding and Lepard, 1835.
Finely bound set of Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages. Folio, six volumes, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, quadruple gilt ruling and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, illustrated with 240 tissue-guarded engraved portraits of British royals and various historical figures including Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Thomas More, King Henry the Eighth, Thomas Cranmer, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Walter Scott among others. In very good condition. Bookplates from the Cathedral Library to the pastedowns.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 122063
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Finely bound collection of Charles Dickens' works
DICKENS, Charles and John Forster.
Works of Charles Dickens.
London: 1837-1874.
Finely bound collection of a selection of Dickens' works as well as Foster's acclaimed biography. Octavo, 16 volumes uniformly bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, red and green contrasting morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. The collection is comprised of: a first edition of Pictures from Italy [London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846]; First edition in book form of Hard Times [London: Bradbury & Evans, 1854]; First edition in book form of the Uncommercial Traveller [London: Chapman and Hall, 1861]; Third edition of Sketches by Boz [2…
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 131992
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Rare second edition of William Linn's The Life of Thomas Jefferson
LINN, William. [Thomas Jefferson].
The Life of Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, and Third President of the United States.
Ithaca: Mack, Andrus, & Woodruff, 1839.
Second edition of one of the most detailed accounts of President Jefferson's life. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with gilt ruling to the spine, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, engraved frontispiece portrait of Jefferson. In very good condition. Bookseller label and ownership inscription to the pastedown.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 130139
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First Edition of Roscoe's Complete Works of Henry Fielding
ROSCOE, Thomas. (Henry Fielding).
The Works of Henry Fielding: Complete in One Volume with Memoir of the Author.
London: Printed for Henry Washbourne, 1840.
First edition of the complete works of Henry Fielding, compiled into one volume by Roscoe. Octavo, bound in full calf with gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, red morocco spine label with titles lettered in gilt, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers and all edges marbled. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Fielding with tissue guard. In very good condition with rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 101216
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“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence": Rare First Edition of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
DOUGLASS, Frederick.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Boston: Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, 1845.
Rare first edition of this treatise on abolition written by famous orator and former slave Frederick Douglass. Small octavo, original brown cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the front panel, frontispiece portrait of Douglass, green endpapers. In very good condition with rubbing and wear to the extremities, rebacked, all edges trimmed. First editions are exceptionally rare.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 133451
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“THE SOCIAL IMPACT ON THE UNITED STATES WAS GREATER THAN THAT OF ANY BOOK BEFORE OR SINCE”: FIRST ISSUE OF UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly.
Boston and Cleveland: John P. Jewett & Company, 1852.
First edition, first issue, with "spilt" (rather than "spiled") in Volume I, 42, line 1; "cathecism" (rather than "catechism") in volume II, 74, line 5; and all other first issue points of the author's classic work. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in contemporary three quarters leather over cloth, gilt titles to the spine, volume with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. In very good condition with light wear and toning. A nice example, scarce and desirable in contemporary binding.
Price: $8,000.00 Item Number: 104745
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First Edition, First Issue of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin with a first edition of A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin; With a signed Card and Cart-de-visite
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly and A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Boston and Cleveland: John P. Jewett and Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1852.
First edition, first issue of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth, volume with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. In very good condition. With a rare carte-de-visite and note card signed "truly yours HB Stowe." Comes with a first edition of Stowe's A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1853. Housed in a custom case.
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 112652
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Rare first edition of Charles Goepp's Kossuth and America; from the Library of Congress
[GOEPP, Charles].
E Pluribus Unum. A Political Tract on Kossuth and America.
Philadelphia: Published by F. W. Thomas, 1852.
Rare first edition of Goepp's criticism of Kossuth. Octavo, bound in full cloth. Deaccessioned from the Library of Congress with the library's bookplate and stamp to the pastedown. In good condition. Rare.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 131558
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The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi; elaborately bound in full crimson crushed levant morocco by Bayntun
DICKENS, Charles.
Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by “Boz.”
London: G. Routledge & Co, 1853.
Finely bound example of Dickens' popular retelling of the memoirs of celebrated English clown Joseph Grimaldi. Octavo, bound in full crimson crushed levant morocco by Baytun with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt titles and tooling to the spin in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt rulings and fleuron cornerpieces to the panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Grimaldi, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. From the library of Albert Hooper with his bookplate to the pastedown. In fine condition. An exquisite example.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 119805
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“A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnanimity": First Edition of Frederick Douglass' My Bondage and Freedom
DOUGLASS, Frederick .
My Bondage and Freedom.
New York & Auburn: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855.
Rare first edition of Douglass' second autobiography. Octavo, original publisher's brown cloth, with three engraved plates, including the engraved frontispiece from the classic daguerreotype of Douglass. In very good condition. A very nice example, uncommon in this condition.
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 133267
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First Quarto edition of Washington Irving's Monumental The Life of George Washington
IRVING, Washington.
The Life of George Washington.
New York: G. P. Putnam & Co., 1855-59.
First edition of Irving's monumental biography of George Washington. Quarto, bound in half crushed red levant with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated with 47 hand-colored plates including tissue-guarded frontispiece to each volume. One of one hundred and ten numbered copies of the quarto edition, this is number forty-five. In near fine condition. An attractive example of this rare work.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 129307
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COMPLETE FIRST EDITION SET OF WASHINGTON IRVING'S MONUMENTAL LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON; ATTRACTIVELY BOUND
IRVING, Washington [George Washington].
Life of George Washington.
G. P. Putnam & Co: New York, 1855.
First edition of Irving’s monumental biography of George Washington. Octavo, bound in full crushed navy morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spines, elaborate gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Washington, original cloth bound in at rear of each volume. In near fine condition. A very attractive set.
Price: $8,200.00 Item Number: 137074
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Rare Collection of American Civil War Era Letter-Books; written and signed by American business magnate J. K. Smythe
SMYTHE, J.K.
American Civil War Era J. K. Smythe Letter-Books.
1858-63.
Rare collection of American Civil War era letters written by American business magnate J. K. Smythe concerning business between Europe and America during the initial years of the war. Quarto bound into two volumes in half-cloth over pebbled boards by Auguste Bellance of Paris, with marbled endpapers and a paper title label with Smythe's signature affixed to the front panel of the first volume. Written by Smythe in Paris between 1858 and 1863, the collection includes several early letters regarding the sale and purchase of lots in New York City including proposals by Smythe to sell his lots in Harlem…
Price: $2,800.00 Item Number: 112462
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First edition of Thomas P. Kettell's History of the Great Rebellion
KETTELL, Thomas P.
History of the Great Rebellion, From Its Commencement to Its Close, Giving An Account of Its Origin, The Secession of the Southern States, and the Formation of the Confederate Government.
New York: N. C. Miller, 1862.
First edition of volume I of Kettell's history of the American Civil War. Octavo, original publisher's cloth elaborately decorated in gilt, illustrated with over 125 engravings including 80 portraits. In very good condition.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 136514
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Frist Edition of Orville Victor's Incidents and Anecdotes of the War
VICTOR, Orville J.
Incidents and Anecdotes of the War: Together with Life Sketches of Eminent Leaders, and Narratives of the Most Memorable Battles for the Union.
New York: James D. Torrey, Publisher, 1862.
First edition of Victor's anecdotal history of the Civil War. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 133076
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First edition of the Report of General George B. McClellan on the Organization of the Army of the Potomac
[STANTON, Edward M.; George B. McClellan].
Letter of The Secretary of War, Transmitting Report on the Organization of the Army of the Potomac, and of Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, Under the Command of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, From July 26, 1861, to November 7, 1862.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1864.
First edition of Stanton's official report on the organization and campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 132804
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Finely bound people's edition of G.R. Gleig's The Life of Arthur Duke of Wellington; inscribed by Arthur James Balfour to his colleague at Eton
GLEIG, G. R. [Arthur James Balfour].
The Life of Arthur Duke of Wellington.
London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864.
The People's Edition of Gleig's biography of Arthur Duke of Wellington; gifted by his godson, Arthur James Balfour to his colleague at Eton. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, frontispiece portrait of Wellington. Presentation copy, inscribed by Arthur James Balfour on the front free endpaper, "Stamford Raffles Flint with the best wishes of Arthur James Balfour on his leaving Eton…
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 117318
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"As you may have seen by the newspapers, I am about to raise a Coloured Regiment in Massachusetts. This I cannot but regard as perhaps the most important corps to be organized during the whole war": First edition of Robert Gould Shaw's Memorial
[SHAW, Robert Gould; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Harriet Beecher Stowe; James Russell Lowell; et al].
Memorial.
Cambridge: University Press, 1864.
First edition of this scarce volume dedicated to the commander of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Robert Gould Shaw, with contributions by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Edwin M. Stanton, and James Russell Lowell and with extracts from Colonel Shaw's letters. Octavo, original publisher's half leather over red boards with gilt titles to the spine, tipped in tissue-guarded oval carte-de-visite frontispiece of Shaw. In very good condition. Scarce, with only a handful of copies having appeared at auction in the last century.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 126433
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Charles C. Nott's Sketches of the War
NOTT, Charles C.
Sketches of the War: A Series of Letters to the North Moore Street School of New York.
New York: Anson D. F. Randolph, 1865.
Second edition of Charles Cooper Nott Sr.'s Civil War memoir. Octavo, original cloth decorated in gilt, top edge gilt. In very good condition.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 132723
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First edition of Robert Patterson's A Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of Shenandoah, in 1861
PATTERSON, Robert.
A Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of Shenandoah, in 1861.
Philadelphia: Sherman & Co., Printers, 1865.
First edition of American Civil War Major General Robert Patterson's account of the Campaign in the Valley of Shenandoah. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. In very good condition.
Price: $250.00 Item Number: 132927
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First edition of F. Senour's Major General William T. Sherman, and His Campaigns
SENOUR, F. [William T. Sherman].
Major General William T. Sherman, and His Campaigns.
Chicago: Henry M Sherwood, 1865.
First edition of Senour's popular biography of Sherman. Octavo, original cloth, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Sherman. In good condition.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 132159
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First edition of Cornelia Phillips Spencer's The Last Ninety Days of the War in North Carolina
SPENCER, Cornelia Phillips.
The Last Ninety Days of the War in North Carolina.
New York: Watchman Publishing Company, 1866.
First edition of the influential social historian's work on the position of North Carolina in the American Civil War. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition.
Price: $450.00 Item Number: 132433
